Mischievous Origins
by sparkleyrainbows
Summary: Matt, Mello and Near have know each other forever right? But everything has to start somewhere. This is the story of those 3 boys, from the day they first met until the very end.


**MELLO**

_Matt has always been my best friend._ _Near had always been my rival. I have always idolized L. That is how it feels to me, but that can't be right. Everything starts as something else- love as hatred, sadness as anger, enemies as friends- and everything starts somewhere._

The Beginning- Part One

I remember the day perfectly, the day when Matt became my friend. It was cold, wet and we were in the biggest shit of our lives. Or, at least, the biggest shit of our lives so far.

When Matt came to Wammy house, I was six... no, seven. Or was it five? I was young. Age at Wammy house never seemed to matter: it was your intelligence that determined who you were grouped with. At this time, I didn't have a rival. Or something to strive for. What I'm saying is, I didn't try. So while I was still extremely smart, I was only grouped in the high end of the 'very, very smart kids', not the genius section. The ones they put me with were all about my age. I hated those kids. They were all so simple minded, compared to myself. They still believed in the impossible. Daily I hear them say 'when my mommy comes back...' 'I can't wait until Daddy picks me up...' They didn't understand the world. If there was one thing I knew, it was that our parents weren't coming back. Ever.

I also knew how much I despised those kids. I just didn't fit in. While they were reading about Super heros, I was reading Darwin, a real hero. I had no friends, none. I didn't need them. The other kids tried to play with me, but I refused. It's not that I didn't want to play, it's just that I didn't see the purpose of 'playing pretend'. That's what books were for, right?

That's why when Matt came, I couldn't care less. I barely even glanced up when Roger plopped him down beside me at the breakfast table.

"Mello, this here is Matt. You've been here awhile, I want you to show him around." I grunted in reply.

Looking back, I think I understand what Roger was doing. He noticed how I ignored the other kids, rarely playing with them. I talked to the teachers more often than the other children. I think Roger knew how smart I was, he was just waiting for me to fully unleash my power, I guess you could say. I think he noticed how I didn't fit in and wanted to place another misfit with me, hoping we would group together, so then at least we would have each other. Maybe I'm just thinking about this too much, maybe he just wanted to make my life miserable and decided Matt could do that for him. Maybe he just didn't care. But whatever the reason, he put me and Matt together and I'm sure as hell glad he did. But I also hate him for it.

Anyhow, Roger left and Matt said nothing. Neither did I. After a few minutes, I finally decided to lift my head from my book and take a good look at the stupid boy beside me.

He had red hair, that was the first thing I noticed. Red hair with a plain black shirt and plain black pants. There was nothing special about him. At least, nothing special that I could see.

The boy caught me looking at him and I hastily looked away. He didn't say anything and neither did I. We sat there while the others started to leave. We didn't say anything and nobody said anything to us.

Finally, after everyone else had left, I decided it was time for introductions.

"I'm Mello."

"Matt," the boy replied, sounding slightly uncomfortable. "But that's not my real name. My real name is Mail."

"Yeaa... best not to go 'round telling people that. We're given names for a reason."

"And why's that?"

It was exactly at this point that I decided that Matt was an idiot.

"Look," I replied, slightly irritated. "We're given names because... because..." I searched for a proper answer. Truth is, I didn't exactly know the answer. I had ideas, sure, but no definite answer. "What we're doing is gunna be dangerous. It's best no one know who we are." I figured that answer was detailed enough to not give away the fact that I didn't know.

Matt seemed confused but he didn't question it. It was then I noticed he was clinging onto something.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing at his hand.

"Nothing!" he quickly answered, hiding his hand behind his back. Great. Now he had me curious.

"Come on, you can tell me." I leaned back, trying to see what it was he was hiding. He moved his hand and I followed. I stood up and reached around Matt, trying to grab what he had, but he was very resistant.

"I... just...wanna see!" I grunted, chasing what he had.

"Nooo!"

After a while, I pretended to give up. Matt relaxed and I took the opportunity to grab a hold of whatever it was he had. Matt looked shocked while I triumphantly looked at what he had been so desperate to hide.

"Goggles?"

"They're mine!" Matt made a grab for them but I pulled my hand away. I made it obvious he was not getting them without an explanation.

"My dad was a pilot," Matt stated as if that explained everything. "My parents died 2 months ago in a plane accident. I was living with my smelly great aunt-in-law or something until I hacked into a government computer. Then, they sent me here. Now give them back!" Matt reached for the goggles and I let him take them. Ah, so that explained it. Although I was young, I realized only very smart kids were at Wammy house. All of us were orphaned or abandoned too.

"Those aren't pilot goggles," I informed Matt as he placed them upon his head.

"I know," he said. "But I think they're cool." I didn't question him further.

I looked at my watch. 10:01. By now, I would usually be reading or doing math questions. I sighed. This boy was ruining my morning.

"I guess I'm suppose to show you around or something," I moped. "You wanna go?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't wanna. You show me my room, okay? I want to play some games."

Games? I didn't question it. I figured he meant with those little plastic dolls or something. So we headed off to Roger's office. He told us they didn't have a place for Matt yet, but they would be doing some test later to determine where to put him. For now, he told us Matt could put his stuff in my room.

I had been lucky. So far, I had not had to share my room with anyone. None of the older kids had to share rooms and I didn't think I should have to either. I knew, deep down, I was as smart, if not smarter than those kids. If they didn't have to share rooms, neither did I. I would have just ignored the other kid anyhow.

We went to my room and I immediately flopped down onto my bed. Matt stood cautiously at the door, looking around. My room was bare and neat, the way I liked it. The bunk bed at the opposite side of the room remained unoccupied and completely empty. Matt set his two bags that he had picked up in Roger's office at the end of this bed. He carefully unzipped the larger one and pulled out a weird box-thing.

"What's that?" I asked, sitting up. My curious mind had gotten me yet again.

"My N64. I named her Zelda." I had never seen one of these 'N64's before but Matt looked very proud to own it. "You wanna play Mario?"

"Umm... Okay." It felt weird, agreeing to play. I never had before.

Matt glanced around the room. "Mello, where's your television?" I blinked. Television?

"I don't have one." Matt's shoulders drooped and his face fell. "But there's one in Near's room."

Matt jumped up. "Well, then let's go get it!"

I knew we shouldn't, but I _wanted_ to. I knew it was bad, but I _wanted_ to go get that television. So we headed off, towards Near's room. Matt was acting like an idiot, pushing himself up against walls so 'he wouldn't be seen' and slyly poking his head around corners. He looked totally stupid but he looked like he was having fun so I joined him.

As we somersaulted into Near's room, it finally occurred to me how bad this deed truly was. We were stealing something for a younger kid's room. I felt so... illegal. I liked the feeling.

"There it is," I whispered, pointing to the small television in the corner of the room.

There were several gadgets attached to the television but we just ripped them out. We unplugged the television and went to pick it up. It wasn't very heavy and together Matt and I could carry it easily.

We had just reached the door when Matt said, "Wait." He let go of the television and rushed back into the room. I gently set the now much heavier television down.

Matt started rummaging around Near's room, looking for something. He opened the dresser drawers one by one and started pulling things out.

"It's all so white," he muttered. He moved away from the dresser and pulled one of the sheets off Near's bed.

"There," Matt said, placing the sheet over the television, hiding it completely. It looked idiotic but less suspicious than just carrying the television around.

We bent down, picked up the television together and headed back to my room. I took one last glance in Near's room. It was a mess. All his dresser drawers were opening, clothes spilling out. Clothes were splattered all over the room. His bed was now unmade and there were random cords from the TV everywhere. Oh, we were screwed alright. But only if they caught us.

As soon as we reached my room, we shut the door and started to hook up the TV. It took us awhile to figure it out but we eventually managed to do it. I mean, we were to juvenile geniuses. What else did you expect? We probably could have made that television if we wanted to.

Matt turned Zelda on and he held his breath. He let out a huge sigh when the screen lit up. He put the 'Mario' game in and started playing.

It was amazing; the game and Matt himself. Matt transformed when he started playing. He was no longer the shy, smart Matt with no friends. He was now the confident, genius, super popular Matt, king of video games. His eyes lit up and he held a permanent grin. I couldn't help but smile.

Matt cleared the level like an expert, turned and offered the controller to me. I had never played a video game before. Hell, I hadn't even heard of them, but there was something in Matt's face , like his eyes where begging me to play. He _wanted_ me to play. He didn't feel sorry for me, he didn't think I was lonely and could use a friend. He wanted me to play because he wanted me to play with him. I couldn't say no.

To put it simply, I sucked. I'm still not very good to this day, but man, back then I _sucked_. I couldn't move at first and then I couldn't figure out how to jump. I didn't even know you had to jump. Matt laughed at me but he helped me. I kept on dying, which made me laugh, (I mean come on. People dying, it's funny!... This is why everyone thinks I have problems, isn't it?)which made Matt laugh, which made me laugh more.

When I finally beat the level, I offered the controller back to Matt. He refused, saying he had already beat the game and besides, he liked watching me play better. He told me I was funny and it was fun for him just watching. I didn't understand, but I continued playing.

We could have gone on like that all night, laughing and playing together, if it weren't for that stupid knock on the door. Unnoticed by either of us, we continued playing. We didn't notice anything until the door opened. We froze and turned around in union. Standing in the doorway was Roger and right behind him, little, stupid Near, hugging a bear.

"Mello, where did you get that television?"

I heard the 'game over' sound play on the television. I turned to Matt and I could tell we were thinking the exact same thing.

We were in deep shit now.

**AN: Sorry it's so long. The others will be shorter... hopefully. This is part one of I don't know how many parts. If it gets even positive feedback, it'll probably become even longer. I hope you like it! **


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